


Elemental

by emblem_oracle



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Child Abuse, M/M, Nightmares, PTSD, Pre-Slash, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-16 01:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9268505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emblem_oracle/pseuds/emblem_oracle
Summary: A recollection of a childhood trauma.A man who offers aid.And a bed shared between them, before it becomes something more.Or: Soren has a nightmare and Ike tries to help.





	

**Author's Note:**

> One of my dearest head-canons about these two is that, between the events of PoR and RD, Soren reveals a little more about his early life to Ike. Not much but enough to show that he is slowly beginning to devote to him.
> 
> This takes place after PoR, just before the mercenaries leave to go back to their fort. 
> 
> Warnings for child abuse and suffocation apply.

'The Basics of Elemency' – By Unknown.

Translated from Old Tongue, initially published Year 101.

To contact spirits, one must enter a place where the spirits are high in population.

Sea water is often among these places. It has long been thought that spirits still linger from the Dark God's drowning of all worlds within the water's salt. As such, contact rites are usually performed within them. Other areas, like mountains on holy ground, are also used but are less common due to their sparsity.

Such rites, though, are considered dangerous and should only be performed by those gifted in magical arts. Prior training isn't necessary with innate skill or a pact formed but is generally recommended.

 

* * *

_In the dream, he was falling._

_Nowhere in particular. Just:_

_Down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Through the skies and past the hills before finally his back hit the water, a burning sensation reverberating off his skin. He'd gathered that this was a dream from the bizarreness. The fact that he had yet to awake, though, suddenly made him doubt._

_He opened his mouth and the water entered, stealing the air from his lungs before he could realise his mistake. He flailed but his robes weighed against him; feeling more like loaded bags than a heap of cloth._

**_Ike._** _The name was on his lips; a plea for help. A plea for the only one who **would.**_

_He cast up a hand, the last remains of sun dappling across his fingertips as he continued:_

_Down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Bubbles trailed his nose, the sun grew faint. His head felt like it could cave in at any moment, killing him faster than suffocation could._

_Ike still did not arrive._

_And suddenly, Soren did not want to keep the water out. The sun abandoned him, the darkness cushioned his fall…_

_Then there was a rush of air, a chocked attempt to capture it. Two hands gripped his shoulders like a vice._

_"Stupid boy! Didn't you learn your scrolls?! Why are you always so ignorant?"_

_He had learned but the water was overwhelming, shocking. Too cold to breathe the words which could save him and his mind too numb to think of other options. Even without the cold, he could barely speak a word of old tongue._

_"Try again! Aeroga can only be cast by speaking it both backwards and forwards, boy. I hope you at least know the chant."_

_The water was back in his nose, his robes heavy again._

_He opened his mouth to speak but no chant came out. The words were frozen, stagnant, yet again._

_The water got in his eyes, the world became black. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to die here beneath the waves of the coast and with barely three years to his age._

_Water slipped onto his tongue, salty and dry. He screamed and his tears were as ineffective as his ability to chant spells._

**Someone please _help me!_**

"Soren!"

The mage awoke with a start, almost bashing heads with the slightly narrowed blue eyes hovering above him. The figure jolted back, hands finding the floor with a faint clap.

It took the mage a moment to catch his bearings, to work out the figure in the dark.

"Ike? You shouldn't hover so close when waking someone. I could have thought you an intruder!" The choking feeling was slowly fading but the beating of his heart resounded in his ears. Soren wiped at his eyes.

"Lesson learned," Ike said. He slowly drew forward again, apparently having decided that injury was not a risk anymore.

Moonlight fell upon Ike's back, casting shadows across Soren's face. Soren couldn't help but feel mildly uncomfortable that Ike was sitting so close to him, considering he was dressed in little more than a shift. His scars were even visible.

He subtly tried to cover them with his hands.

"Is there something you needed? It's past midnight." The mage eyed the sword at Ike's waist.

Ike followed his gaze and shook his head. "Don't worry, nothing's happened. I came to discuss preparations for our return to the fort but you were asleep."

"I noticed," Soren replied blandly. "Is what you wanted to discuss urgent?"

"Sorta'? It needs addressing but it could wait until morning."

"Then… why did you wake me?" Soren drew out the pause, raising his brows. Ike stared straight back at him, eyes dim in the dark. It was difficult to see in such low light, even with the time taken to adjust. Soren could barely see Ike as anything more than a black shadow.

Still, he could just about work out Ike's features. Concern. The furrowed eyebrows revealed as much.

"You were shouting in your sleep," Ike said simply.

"Sorry?"

"You were shouting in your sleep. Loudly. I thought you were being attacked before I came in. Thought it best to wake you."

"Oh."

"You alright?"

Something about how Ike could offer such honest concern so carelessly made Soren's chest warm. Shame he was never good when it came to receiving such things.

"I'm fine."

"Sure?" Ike glanced around the room; at the shadow of a dresser and the wardrobe pressed into a corner. Something about Melior was both beautiful yet understated; simple yet ornate. The rooms were basic enough that Soren didn't feel completely out of place but he still wished to return to his old room at the fort. Ike probably felt something similar. Even now, after half a year spent being general, his attire looked far too extravagant for someone so rough around the edges. "You seemed pretty frightened. What was it about?"

Ike moved to sit at the end of the bed, the mage drawing up his legs to give him space.

Soren's defensive urge to keep any personal issues to himself kicked in automatically. "I dreamed that Aimee showed up at the fort, except she now followed me around and was attempting to serenade me with bad poetry and flowers. It was terrifying."

"Soren, I'm serious," Ike said, crossing his arms. He took a moment before he said, like it made a difference: "You were calling my name."

The mage glanced down at the lines of his hands, still wrapped around his arm like a shield. He found himself slowly dragging a finger across a particularly prominent scar; a remnant of his life in Gallia.

"It was nothing but a stupid dream."

"I thought you said you would try to talk about your problems more?"

"This _isn't_ a problem."

Ike sighed; resigning himself into being there for the long haul. Soren did not like to make his life harder but he stood his ground. Ever since Ike had discovered his secret, his prying had become more persistent. He would never force the matter but sometimes the mage wondered whether he was frustrated by his limited progress since. Patience was not the strongest of Ike's suits, no matter how he tried to maintain it.

Ike must have caught on to his own agitation because when he spoke next his voice was soft. Or, as soft as Ike could manage. "The last time you said there was nothing wrong was when you were fretting about being Branded. You know I won't judge you for anything you have to say. If this really isn't a problem then tell me."

There was a pause, a stare off between them as they battled within. Usually Soren could last through them – he rarely cracked under scrutiny – but he was tired and this was Ike and he really had said that he would try to open up more.

"I dreamed about Gallia. About the sage."

A moment passed as Ike tried to think who he meant.

"The one who taught you magic?"

"Yes," Soren ran a finger across another scar; the result of a spell back firing. "I dreamed of when he first started teaching me. He was a big believer in the older tomes; he disregarded most modern craft. "

Soren stopped himself, wondering if he really should be concerning Ike with anymore of his past. If Ike was put out, though, he didn't show it. He merely sat on the end of the bed and waited.

The mage took a breath, an attempt to settle strayed nerves. The moon caught his hair and it shined in the light. "Older tomes tend to have… harsher teaching methods. To awaken my magical abilities, the old sage had me recount spells while submerged in water. Considering I was near mute, this was pretty difficult. I was recalling that experience. That's all."

Ike's expression twisted."I thought you said the sage was _nicer_ than the woman!"

A small smile flitted to his face but it quickly fell. "I said the sage gave me a better life. He wasn't too fond of me, either."

"I can't believe there are people who would do such things to a person, never mind a child. Do you have these dreams often?"

"Often enough," Soren admitted. "But I can manage."

"Maybe I should stay with you tonight then…" Ike glanced towards the window in thought, moonlight shining in his eyes like diamonds. "Honestly, even though the war has ended, I am still on edge. I guess being on my guard for so long has gotten to me."

Soren's expression fell. He knew such feelings were expected following war but he had still wished that Ike would get spared.

"Alright," Soren conceded. "You can stay if you wish. But there is only one bed so you or I could sleep on the floor?"

"Seems pointless. Why not just share the bed?"

Soren blinked. Ike must have missed it because he was already examining the wooden frame. "I bet this could hold us both. It's clearly well-made and decently sized."

"You want to share a bed?"

"Why not? It will be like when you first joined the mercenaries, before you were built a bed of your own."

The mage recalled those early days, before he and Ike were anything more than acquaintances. Soren had suggested then that he sleep on the floor but Ike, generous as he was, allowed the mage to share his own. That bed had been small and neither were particularly comfortable but Soren had slept more soundly than he ever had on the streets.

As Soren mused about those early days, Ike removed his armour until he was dressed only in underclothes and moved to the top of the bed. "Move over."

This bed was bigger than Ike's had been when they were children; the straw mattress was less lumpy and the pillow not so hard. Still, they had both grown since childhood (though Soren less so) and Soren found himself stuffed between Ike and the wall.

A small smile quirked at Ike's lips and it suddenly seemed like a much more comfortable position. "Guess I didn't think this through much. Want me to lay at the bottom?"

"It's fine."

"Sure?"

"Yes, Ike."

"Well, alright then. Night, Soren." Ike rubbed his head against the pillow, settling down. His eyes drifted closed.

"Night, Ike."

Soren's eyes fell closed too.

* * *

It surprised him but Soren somehow managed not to wake up before the sun rose, as he was prone to. The sunlight beat against his eyelids and he pushed them open, blinking to clear the blurriness.

The mage shifted to sit up, conscious of the warm body still asleep besides him, when he realised he was trapped. A warm arm had fallen across him in the night, holding him almost hostage by the waist. Ike's breath was against his ear and it was both soothing yet ticklish.

His mind supplied that he could push the arm away.

Soren eyes closed again, admitting silent defeat.

He did not want to wake Ike, he reasoned to himself. So, he would stay put. Though, it was a nice feeling to have someone asleep at his side.

So, Soren settled down and fell back asleep; nightmares holding no grip on his mind for once.


End file.
